Capturing the world through photography, video and multimedia

Best of the Web

According to this site, one girl or woman is raped every 90 seconds in North Kivu, Democratic Republic of Congo. Every aspect of that statement should be highly disturbing to everyone.

When I first encountered Sarah Fretwell’s photography, I loved the treatment and approach. I was intrigued and moved by the statement and the power of the work. The use of visuals together with the notebook present this story as a multifaceted, emotional and deeply effective guide to each of the painful stories of these women. The video also adds a facet to the story that needs to be told.

The Truth Told Project site offers quite a bit of information, offering a launching point to learn more and do something to combat this situation.

Although it looks simple, this project is deeply complex in emotion. The before-and-after photographs of these young Danish boxers tell a story of mystery and intrigue. Considering how in your face the photographs are, the mood is not as direct. I am left in wonder, and I appreciate that.

Art director-turned-photographer Laurent Chéhère has created a series of whimsical photo illustrations that are highly creative and stylized. Chéhère has an obvious sense of style, as seen in his work called “Flying Houses.” It’s wildly fun and winks with a little mischievousness. There is just something very special about them.

HBO’s four-part series “Witness” takes you on a journey that is gripping and raw, following three photojournalists as they cover some of the most intense regions of our time. “Witness” journeys to Juarez, Mexico; Libya; South Sudan and the favelas of Rio, with fast-paced looks at covering a crisis. The cinematography by Jared Moossy is mind-blowing, and the editing has a clean flow that tells the stories in a way that goes beyond the superficial. They are not so much about the job of photojournalism — which is obviously very dangerous — or exactly about the photojournalists. Rather, the photojournalists give us access to the stories of the people and the conflicts they cover. The series is fascinating and filled with real-life drama, whether you care about photojournalism or not.

In the spirit of Thanksgiving, I wanted to conclude with a little something uplifting that’s been going around. It’s a Coca-Cola advertisement, but beyond that, it’s a little glimpse of goodness in the world. Most of the video is from actual security cameras, with a few exceptions that are re-creations of real-life situations.